Going into business for yourself is the best move that a person can make. It’s much better than wasting away for most of your life while the owners profit from your labor. However, owning a business in the modern era isn’t without risk. You could even lose your own personal assets in the worst situations. Fortunately, there are several ways to make sure that doesn’t happen.
There are lots of things that business owners do to reduce risk in business endeavors. Maintaining liability insurance, contracted agreements, and incorporation are some of the most common ways that businesses alleviate the burden of risks.
Yet, to do these properly, every business should strongly consider retaining a business lawyer. That’s because lawyers can make quick work of complicated filings, navigate risk, and ward off unscrupulous frauds that would otherwise mark your business. The list goes on and having an experienced business lawyer on your side can be the difference between success and failure.
1. They Can Help You Choose The Best Business Structure
Depending on the kind of business you’re in, there’s a perfect business structure for it. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and LLCs are all optimized for different features. Each has specific advantages and disadvantages concerning every sphere of business, including liability, worker protections, and taxation.
Liability is one of the biggest things to consider when it comes to organizational structure. Corporations and limited liability corporations protect the personal assets of the investors against a variety of negative outcomes. Meanwhile, operating as a sole owner can leave your house exposed to claims from debtors and punishments deriving from legal suits.
Liability and the structure of your business is probably the single most important aspect of your fledgling endeavor. Consulting with legal representation regarding your organizational structure is essential. Make sure you choose a legal firm that is up to snuff, for example
Alvin Legal is an industry leader and makes a good reference for what to look for in legal representation. Make sure that your choice of representation is specialized in business and not something unrelated.
2. Drafting Essential Documents Like Shareholder Agreements
Lawyers will make sure that you’re protected by drafting the essential documents from the start. Corporations often have multiple members and investors. And these individuals can be the most beneficial or destructive influences on your business. Drafting properly binding agreements can spell out exactly what is allowed and expected from your shareholders, which can go a long way in keeping them under control.
A lawyer will help your organization develop bylaws that will protect not only you but your legacy and every member of the organization.
3. Help You Apply For Trademarks And Related Intellectual Property Issues
Many businesses are content-oriented and rely on branding for marketing and reputation purposes. There are a variety of content-related intellectual property rights issues that can come up during the course of a business’s lifetime. Depending on your field, IP protections could be the most important thing.
Whether it’s protecting your name and trademarked logo, product content, or patents, it’s important to have a shark on staff that can hit violators hard and fast to minimize damage to your company and profits.
4. Lawyers Minimize Liability
Attorneys are known for this one and liability is one of the main reasons that businesses fail. They are in a special position to know what actions and words open you and your business to legal claims and culpability. Chances are that having a lawyer all but guarantees that you’re maintaining liability insurances. However, a lawyer will also dissuade potential claimants from even filing in the first place.
Lawyers scare off would-be manipulators and thieves.
5. Contract Review
Contracts are legally binding and can protect everyone involved. Lawyers will make sure your contracts are water-tight. That means fewer surprises and more protections for the parties that adhere to the contract terms. Having poorly-constructed contracts leaves you open to all kinds of problems from vendors, employees, and customers alike.
6. Damage Control
If something does happen due to your own negligence or the negligence of one of your employees, lawyers can do a lot to minimize the damage to your business. It’s not that having a lawyer helps you escape responsibility when you’re at fault, it merely ensures that your claimant can’t bleed you dry and open you up to sharks brought in by the freshly-chummed waters.
Legal counsel also deters slanderers and organizations that are looking for the opportunity to knock you down a peg.
7. Tax Strategy
It’s a well-known fact that lawyers can do wonders for your tax situation. Only a lawyer can offer you lots of different tax strategies with confidence. They know which strategies are legal, grey, and illegal and whether or not they’re likely to draw the gaze of auditors. Essentially, they know how it works and what is and isn’t acceptable in the real world. They also can provide advice regarding holdings and your exit strategy.
Retaining A Lawyer Is One Of The Best Things To Protect Your Business
The things mentioned here are just scratching the surface. Having a lawyer for your business provides more advantages than can possibly be listed here. And only one disadvantage – cost. However, unless you’re the luckiest person alive, that cost will recoup itself 10 times over if your business is the target of even one lawsuit or audit. Especially if you’re not even liable in the first place due to your type of incorporation. Lawyers make a successful business iron-clad and much more stable.